RBS chairman turns down £1.4m bonus

Published on Sunday 29 January 2012 00:00

THE Royal Bank of Scotland chairman, Sir Philip Hampton, has waived the £1.4 million shares award he was due to pick up next month.

In contrast to the RBS chief executive Stephen Hester, who sparked outrage by taking home a £963,000 share bonus, Hampton has given up his award on the grounds that it would not be appropriate to take it.

Hampton was awarded 5.17m shares in the part-nationalised bank on top of his salary when he joined the institution in February 2009 and he is soon eligible to take it.

Sir Philip’s decision to sacrifice the so-called restricted share award is understood to have been made some time ago, but was revealed yesterday.

It comes at a difficult time for the bank, with Hester having just been awarded his near £1m bonus on top of his £1.2m salary.

The revelation is sure to heap pressure on Hester to reconsider taking his bonus. There has been huge political fall-out from the move as the taxpayer owns an 82 per cent stake in the bank after the government was forced to bail it out to stop it from collapsing in the financial meltdown.

Yesterday David Cameron said it was up to Hester whether he took the bonus.

The Prime Minister said RBS is aware that government ministers believe the state-owned bank’s bonuses are excessive, but added it would be prohibitive to change the team trying to bring the institution under control.

Mr Cameron said: “We do have to bear in mind that the alternatives to what’s happening now could be even more expensive, if you had a whole new team coming into RBS.”

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13

knapper

Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 02:42 PM

God! My heart bleeds for him. My husband lost his final salary pension that he thought he'd be getting years ago. why should I worry about these people... lets have some real news.

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12

BLOCKEM

Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 02:33 PM

8 - Jolly .... Short time after (if) independence, Salmond, Sturgeon, Swinney & Co. will up their own salaries, pensions and perks. Followed by a substantial increase in secretaries, admins, minions, gofers et al. And an increase in MSPs, and more secretaries, admins, minions, gofers et al.

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11

richardm

Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 01:31 PM

8 Jolly# Would there actually be any large multi-national banks HQ'd in an independent Scotland. The Ace enn Pee's approach the banks is a bit like the Royal family's attitude towards Windsor Castle: when all was going well it belonged to them. And when it was a burnt out wreck it belonged to the nation.

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10

Gordon Hay

Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 12:06 PM

These men signed, in good faith, legally binding contracts drawn up on behalf of, and signed off by, the government of the day. It is an abuse of power for grandstanding politicians and trade union leaders, in tandem with sales-chasing newspapers, to attempt to hound them into renouncing their contractual rights. Imagine the TU outcry if these were ordinary workers being told to give up their rights.

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9

Gordon Hay

Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 11:36 AM

Of course, if he did decide to take the bonus shares to re-distribute to the poor, he would have to wait two years to do so, pay 52% of the value in tax, then a further 28% capital gains tax on the sale price when he converted them, leaving a lot less to give away. Or are we all happy to let the media carry on giving the impression that such bonuses are cash-in-hand?

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8

Jolly

Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 11:32 AM

There would be no massive payouts to Bank managers in an independent Scotland

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7

BLOCKEM

Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 10:11 AM

Well done to Philip Hampton. He could have taken the money - but didn’t. Keep the bonus in the bank and make it work for the bank - loan it out - and reinvest the "profit" - in the bank.

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6

Ancient Wisdom

Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 09:07 AM

I would have accepted the money if that was my contract. Then the Salvation Army would have a pleasant surprise to help them deal with the flotsamd and jetsam of this sad society.

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5

shaldon2

Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 08:57 AM

Stephen Hester should only receive a bonus if and when the share price reaches 70p

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4

Hector the Lessor

Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 08:25 AM

Sorry Charles, you are not a registered Charity. Better to give it to the Salvation Army, Medicin sans Frontiere, or the Red Cross. Those guys know what they are doing.

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3

Hector the Lessor

Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 08:21 AM

What you have is International folk who go for the highest bid, have not an inclination to support their country, and will no doubt retire to some South Sea Island where they will be totally miserable. There should be enough Scots entrepreneurs who could run a bank, were willing to take a cut in income due to reduce profits, and a substantial increase in income when things were singing and dancing. Not only could they retire to their local neighbourhood and get a small bit of appreciation and respect, but they would not get half bricks thrown through their windows.

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2

Charles Linskaill

Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 01:53 AM

Sir Philip Hampton, chairman turns down £1.4m bonus, That was very nice of Him, Now Give his bonus to me, and I'll distribute his intended money amongst our poor in our life, For Many, having a little money to survive on brings them a great wealth of happiness.

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Charles Linskaill

Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 12:54 AM

Sir Philip Hampton, chairman turns down £1.4m bonus, That was very nice of Him, Now Give it to me, and I'll distribute it amongst our poor in life, For Many, having a little money to survive on brings them a great wealth of happiness.

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